A team of five international relations graduate
students from SAIS
finished in third place out of more than 85 teams from 13
countries competing in the Sustainable Innovation Summit
Challenge hosted by Thunderbird School of Global Management
in Glendale, Ariz.
SAIS was the only non-MBA school participant in the
group of 10 teams from around the world competing March
21-24 in the final round of a competition held in
conjunction with Thunderbird's first Sustainable Innovation
Summit. MBA teams from Instituto de Empresa in Madrid,
Spain, and Duke University's Fuqua School of Business won
first ($20,000) and second ($5,000) prize, respectively.
Seth Colby, Landon Loomis, Chris Meyer, Chris Saunders
and Rachna Saxena comprised the SAIS team, taking home a
$3,000 prize.
The challenge in the final round was to develop
innovative and sustainable business concept plans that
addressed real-life challenges faced by global corporations
Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co. All teams had to address
the questions proposed by each company.
Merck was looking for opportunities to shape the
overall health care landscape in the emerging markets of
China or India, thereby producing sustainable markets for
its products. The SAIS students suggested strengthening the
rural insurance system in China by improving access and
efficiency. The team proposed a fellowship program in which
Merck would pay partial tuition for medical students in
return for their services in rural hospitals. It also
included an administrative workshop to train and build the
capacity of local insurance providers.
Johnson & Johnson wanted to know how it could provide
its high-tech health care solutions in emerging and
developed economies at an affordable price for growing
middle- and lower-income consumer groups. The SAIS team
proposed a sustainable program in which Johnson & Johnson
would create networks of micro-entrepreneurs supported by
microfinance institutions to supply diabetic testing
services in Brazil. The business model called for testing
strips to be sold individually, thereby increasing
affordability for lower income consumers.
"Innovative real-world solutions presented by the
student teams that participated in the Thunderbird
Sustainable Innovation Summit exceeded our expectations in
many ways," said Neil Currie of Johnson & Johnson. "We all
gained new insights that will contribute to immediate
action in the short term as well as help shape our
responses to challenges that corporate and community
leaders — including the students who participated
— will continue to wrestle with for years to
come."
The winners were announced March 24 at an awards
dinner marking the final event of the summit, a four-day
event that showcased innovative business solutions that
reflect a commitment to economically, environmentally and
socially sound business practices.